Magical Matters
by Seven Silver Moons
Summary: Harry and Hermione meet as children, and learn about magic their own way.
1. Chapter 1

To say Harry Potter was nervous would be the understatement of the century. It was his first day of year five, and whilst for a normal child this would be exciting, for Harry it was something else completely.

Dudley had warned him before school that his gang of friends would pummel him silly, just as they had been doing for the last few years. Harry had to be the only boy in the school who could honestly say that he never wanted lessons to end, even though he never paid attention in them.

Fortunately, they arrived to school late, which meant that they were able to go straight into the classroom.

The Year Five classroom seemed to be the same as the Year Four one, only with slightly more grown up posters on the wall, and not as many toys scattered around the room. The only real difference seemed to be that there was a new girl, who had big bushy hair and buckteeth. She was standing in the front of the room, looking around nervously.

Harry sat down near the front of the class, on his own. He didn't have any friends, because everyone was too afraid of Dudley to do as much as smile at him.

Soon the lesson begun and the girl was introduced to the class. She had a funny name, Hermione Granger. She told the class that it was Shakespearian, but no-one knew what that meant.

She sat down next to him, and gave him a nervous smile. Harry hoped that she wouldn't get in trouble with Dudley for it.

It wasn't long before the lessons ended, and it was playtime. Harry dashed out of the classroom as quickly as he could, and found his hiding spot on top of the bins. He had been hiding there since Year Three, and Dudley still hadn't spotted him.

It was quite a nice spot. You could see the entire playground. The boys playing football in the field, the girls sitting in groups giggling, the crazy children pretending to be aeroplanes.

You could even see Dudley's group, looking around for someone new to torture.

Unfortunately, they seemed to have picked Hermione Granger. Harry watched as they began to circle around her, they looked like vultures preying on rotten meat.

Harry knew that he shouldn't have let her sit next to him in class. When anyone was nice to him, they always ended up in trouble.

Dudley's group seemed to have made their move, one of them had pushed her over. Harry knew the routine well enough that this was where the name calling began. Harry couldn't let that happen

Harry jumped down from the bins, and walked up right behind Dudley. The gang of boys were all looking at him in shock, and he was a little shocked at him, but he knew that he couldn't stop what he was doing.

"Dudley, pick on someone your own size." Harry said. "Leave her alone."

Dudley turned around to face Harry. It was hard to believe they were the same age, as Dudley seemed to tower over him.

"Come here to defend your girlfriend? You two are perfect for each other, buckteeth Granger and hand-me-down Potter. How romantic."

Dudley raised his fist, and Harry braced himself for the pain. He saw Dudley's fist get closer and closer until-

Dudley was pushed back, as if by an invisible force. Harry watched as his face turned more and more purple, but he wasn't silly enough to wait until the bigger boy stood up. Harry grabbed Hermione's wrist and ran and ran until eventually, he was back onto the bins.

Except he wasn't. Somehow, the two of them had managed to get themselves onto the roof. He wasn't sure how it happened, but he was used to strange things happening to him. Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't.

"We're on the roof! How on earth did we get onto the roof?" She half-shouted, "We're going to get in so much trouble. What will my parents say? We'll have to go to the headmaster's office. I think I'm going to die."

"Calm down, I don't think that anyone will notice we're up here." He said.

"I can't calm down at a time like this; I don't in trouble. I've never even been told off before." Hermione sobbed

"Calm down, if we do get caught, I'll take the blame; I don't mind getting told off, I'm in trouble all of the time."

Hearing this, Hermione sniffed loudly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course." Harry said, before asking nervously. "Do you want to be my friend?"

"You want to be friends with _me_?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Most people think I'm very bossy." Hermione said "And a know it all."

"Well, I think you're the nicest person I've ever met."

For a while they sat there in silence, Harry peered over the edge to see if Dudley was looking for them. He was talking to the teacher, whilst the rest of his gang seemed to have formed a search party. It was funny, because even though they had seen him run off, all of them had gone in the wrong direction.

Harry and Hermione climbed carefully off the roof, and sat behind the bins.

"I've never seen such a nasty boy in my life! I bet his parents are horrible."

"They are." Harry said lowly. "They're awful."

"Oh, you've met them before?

"I live with them; they're my aunt and uncle." Harry looked at the roof tiles "They both hate me; they make me sleep in a cupboard."

"Harry, that's horrible!" She exclaimed, "I have to say, it does explain a lot of Dudley's behaviour though, most children with nasty parents act like them for at least the first ten to eleven years of their lives."

"Well, he definitely acts like Uncle Vernon." Harry said, "They are practically the same person, right down to the weight. They both look like a pair of elephants."

Before Hermione had a chance to laugh, they were both grabbed by a teacher, who dragged them both by the arm, right up to Dudley.

"Apologise to him." The teacher said, "Being violent towards others is completely unacceptable."

"Sorry Dudley." Harry murmured.

He tried to tell the teacher that Hermione had nothing to do with it, but he seemed adamant to ignore them, and dragged the two of them straight off to the Head's office.

Mr Nightingale was the new headmaster at the school. He had been promoted after only two years as a Year Six teacher.

He had been informed that Harry Potter was a problem student by both his guardians and the Year Four teacher. Apparently he had been tormenting Dudley for years.

However, as soon as Harry was brought in front of him, he could not believe it. The boy was tiny, and looked as if he were completely underfed, which was not helped by the fact that he was wearing clothes that were massively too large for him.

"Explain to me what happened." He said, trying to sound strict.

"Sir, Hermione had absolutely nothing to do with it-"

"Mr Potter, as I understand it, you have been in trouble repeatedly over the years for behaviour like this. I do not want to have to expel you."

The girl spoke up, sounding petrified, "Sir it isn't Harry's fault, Dudley and his friends are the ones who cause all of the problems."

"Excuse me Miss Granger?"

The girl looked at him, seeming almost shocked at herself. Mr Nightingale nodded at her to continue.

"Sir, this is what really happened; I was in the playground when an enormous group of started circling around me. They were Dudley and his friends. They called me all sorts of horrid names like bucktooth, geek, and chipmunk and know it all. Harry came over to try and help me."

"is this true, Mr Potter?" He asked the young boy.

"Yes, sir."

"Anyway, Dudley turned around, and was just about to punch Harry when I pushed him over, just to try and stop him. After that, we both ran and hid behind the bins."

"I see, Miss Granger. I have to trust that you're telling the truth."

"I am, sir."

"However, you should have just told the teacher, rather than hiding in a place that you aren't allowed to go." He paused, and then said, "But don't worry about Mr Dursley. I will make sure that he understands that bullying is absolutely not acceptable."

"Sir, please don't." Harry said quietly

"Why not?"

"If you tell Dudley off, he will punch me even harder. Please don't say anything." Harry begged.

That meant that this sort of behaviour must have been going on for a long time. He could not understand how the other teachers could have missed it, although Harry must have been too afraid to say anything. He would need to intervene quite seriously.

"Harry, I think I will talk to you and Dudley tomorrow. I shall send someone to your classroom to collect the two of you." Mr Nightingale said softly.

"Mr Nightingale, would it be alright if we went back to our classroom? Sorry if that sounded rude, but I don't want to miss any more of the lesson."

"Yes Hermione, the two of you may go." Mr Nightingale said, with a small laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

Richard Nightingale was finally ready to see Harry and Dudley.

He had been asking teachers questions about them all day, yet none of them really helped. They seemed to think that Harry was a bully, for a strange reason. One of the teachers even said that Dudley was one of the sweetest little boys he had ever met, and that his father was a good man who would always keep his guests entertained.

Somehow, he didn't believe this. He knew a few things about bullies, and Dudley, from the large group of rough looking friends, to the way the other children behaved around him, seemed like a very aggressive one. This wasn't what worried him the most though. Mr and Mrs Dursley had clearly done nothing to stop Dudley's behavior.

The only person who was helpful, was Sarah, his assistant. She had been at the school for three years, and had seen Dudley hit Harry. However, there was no evidence, and Harry had denied it, so at the time she couldn't do anything about it. She told him all how Harry behaved, especially around Dudley. Sarah went on to describe just how timid Harry was, in lessons and out. Then she pointed out the obvious point that Harry was so small and skinny that, even if Harry did want to push Dudley over, it would be a very difficult challenge.

"Harry and Dudley, you may enter." Mr Nightingale said

As they came in he noticed that Dudley was glaring at Harry, and mouthing something which looked like a threat. However, as Dudley sat down he changed his expression to that of an innocent, lost boy.

"Okay, Dudley, will you tell me what happened with Harry yesterday." Mr Nightingale said kindly

"Of course headmaster, me and my friends were playing stuck the mud, when Harry and the new girl started calling us rude names. I ask them to stop an all, but they wouldn't listen to me. Eventually they pushed me over and ran to the roof." Dudley was saying this with an overconfident smirk. "Ain't that right Harry."

Harry looked down "Yes sir."

"Are you telling the truth."

"Yes sir."

"So, you're saying it's all your fault."

Mr Nightingale wasn't sure what he should do, Harry wasn't helping anyone denying it. Mr Nightingale decided that he would have to come up with a way of getting to talk to Harry's aunt and uncle. At the same time he didn't want Dudley to hurt Harry, so he did the best thing he could.

"Mr Potter, bullying is not acceptable. I will arrange a meeting between myself and your guardian to discuss Harry's punishment. They can come to my office on Wednesday, around eight. I'll send a letter to your house to inform them, and your parents can phone me if there are any problems."

"Yes sir." Dudley sang

"You may go back to your lessons now."

As they left, Mr Nightingale noticed the dejected look on Harry's face. As much as he hated to admit it, Harry was going to have a very hard time until Wednesday. However, if Hermione was there,he was sure the young boy could get through anything.

* * *

Hermione was waiting eagerly for Harry in the playground, counting the seconds down. She was almost tempted to sit by the headmasters door and listen in, but she didn't want to get in any more trouble herself. Instead she stared at the concrete floor and thought, mostly about the things that happened yesterday. Like how extraordinary Harry was, he actually wanted to be her friend. She couldn't believe it, there was someone as lonely as her, except it wasn't because people found him annoying. Even his appearance, his bright green eyes, jet black hair and lightning shaped scar. Suddenly, the image she was picturing appeared in front of her.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, half tempted to give him a hug.

"Hi Hermione." Harry said, upset

"So the meeting didn't go well then."

"Not at all, Dudley made me say that it was my fault. Mr Nightingale is meeting with the Dursley's in a week to discuss my punishment, there isn't a chance that I wont get in trouble."

"Harry." Hermione said, as gently as she could "Maybe he has a plan to help you, after all, he's the headmaster. He wouldn't be silly enough to falll for something Dudley says, or anyone else."

"Just because he's the headmaster doesn't mean that he's perfect."

"Don't be ridiculous Harry."

"Whatever." Harry said, walking away dejectedly

"Honestly, I try to be nice. Why do I always do this."

Hermione decided to go to the school library, she had been itching to check out the new book on the conditions of the soldiers in the first world war. After all, when she started year nine she wanted to be ahead. The library was smaller than the one in her old school, and even emptier. Only the teenage librarian was in it, and even she seemed to be falling asleep.

As she made her way though countless children's books, she finally saw a book that caught her eye. It was large, old and musty, which was just her style. Hermione carefully pulled the book off the shelf, not wanting to damage it in any way. She slowly opened the book up, and noticed a letter fall out. What she read surprised her the most. A letter was stuck to it, one addressed to Harry.

Hermione, decided on reading it. After all, a peek wouldn't hurt anyone, and Harry and her were fighting. It would be better to give it to him when they were friends again, wouldn't it?

_Dear Harry Potter,_

_I knew you would have your mother's love for reading, it will help you in later life, more than you would know. I wrote this letter to you in case the Dursley's didn't tell you. Have you ever wondered why strange things happen to you, or you felt something was missing?_

"What on earth is this man, and how does he know Harry?" Hermione asked herself

_It's because you're a wizard Harry. I may sound a crazy old fool to you, but it is necessary to tell you this. I thought I would give you this book on witches and wizards. I would give you a spell book, but you can't do magic until you start school. Still, the pictures will surprise you, and I have put a spell on. If muggles seem to think it is a different book, don't be alarmed._

_PS: I have a warning. Whatever you do, stay away from anyone with a skull and snake on their wrist._

_Professor Dumbledore_

Hermione thought she was going to die out of shock, this man was crazy. He must be, what kind of sane man would make a nice boy like Harry think he was a wizard when that was impossible? Still, Hermione supposed it was worth investigating.

Hermione went up to the desk to check it out, waking up the sleepy librarian.

"Wow, a kid who likes reading. That's not something you see every day, still, I have to admit, I was just like you ten years ago. I used to love books on witches and wizards. Those were my favourites." The librarian said dreamily "Kid, I have to warn you, don't drop out of school to become a librarian just because you like reading. It doesn't pay well."

The teenager checked the book out before she, fell back into the large chair, already half asleep. Hermione hid the large book in her school bag before running to class. When entered the classroom, Harry looked at her apologetically, but she avoided his gaze. For now, she wanted to find out more of this by herself. Harry seemed like the kind of person who would jump to a conclusion, and this needed to be very carefully studied.

Besides, when was the last time she had found such a big book.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:- Don't own Harry Potter Never have, never will.**

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to post the last chapter up, so I made sure to finish this one as soon as possible.**

**

* * *

**

_Arthur Wilson_

_Arthur Wilson was a wand maker who is said to have lived 943-998. He was born into an extremely poor wizard family, whom were forced to live without magic, as he was youngest of twelve, he was given the toughest chores. When he turned thirteen he decided to make his own wand, to relieve him of his work. After several failures, he managed to create successful wand. On that fateful day, he decided on being a wand craftsman for the remainder of his life. Over a the next decade, he became known as the greatest wand maker of all time. He was killed for marrying a muggleborn. Everyone with a wand made by him was forced to burn it. His most brilliant wand survives though, a wand so powerful that it destroy the world if used wrong._

Hermione was at the library again, reading the book and thinking about all the things that had happened since she had moved, she had moved house, she had become friends with Harry, she had started ignoring Harry, oh and she had found out that magic was real. The last two were thanks to her big, magical book.

Hermione had spent the past three days constantly reading the book. Between the talking pictures, the figures that walked around outside of the paper, and the strange noises it sometimes made, she was positive magic existed.

She had to admit, it was an enormous shock when she opened the book for the first time. The minute she saw the photo moving, the world as she knew it ended. For a few hours all Hermione did was sit there looking speechless. Then she started reading it again, and found the most extraordinary things in it, Hermione knew that this wizard and witch world was more complex than she could ever have imagined.

She read it every day at school, in break and lunch. She refused to talk to anyone else, in case they discovered the book, which meant that she hadn't talked to Harry since. Hermione was over halfway through the book now, so it would only be another few days before she had finished the book. Once she had finished the book she would tell Harry.

Then, she realised the true reason she was hiding the book from Harry. It wasn't because it needed to be examined, it was because she wanted to keep this knowledge to herself. Hermione put the book in her bag. She was being selfish, but it was nice to have a secret that only she knew. Even when it wasn't really her secret to keep.

* * *

Harry was locked in his cupboard, in the dark. After Dudley told Uncle Vernon what had happened at school he had been stuck in here as soon as he finished school. Still, it was better than doing chores. Well, actually, he would almost rather be doing chores, at least it was going to take his mind off having to visit the Headmaster soon.

"Come and help me finish cooking." Aunt Petunia screeched "Hurry up!"

Harry spoke too soon.

"I'm coming." Harry called, stepping into the hall

Harry blinked a few times, waiting for his eyes to adapt to the light. As they did, Harry noticed that Dudley and Uncle Vernon were dressed in smart shirts and trousers. Harry looked down at his grubby clothes t-shirt and dirty baggy jeans, Aunt Petunia was going to make him change into one of Dudley's old suits.

"Once you've finished making dinner you can get changed. I'll even save you the leftovers. "

"Yes Aunt Petunia. " He said, keeping an eye on the stove

"Look at me when I talk to you. Whilst we're there you can't speak out of line, not once."

"Harry, you almost burnt the beef, keep your eye on the stove. "

Harry got dressed as fast as he could, then quickly ate the small portion of food. It was almost time for the meeting with the Headmaster , which Harry was terrified of. He had decided to take Hermione's word for it, that the headmaster had a plan.

Before Harry knew it, he was waiting outside the office again, to be called in. The Dursley's looked smug, after all, it was him that was getting in trouble. Aunt Petunia was too busy fixing up her peach, floral patterned dress that made her look like she belonged in the fifties.

Mr Nightingale stepped out of his office, looking quite cheerful.

"Good evening, you must be Dudley's parents, as you probably know I'm Mr Nightingale. Please, do come in. "

They were taken through the office into the staff room, which looked far more elegant without the teachers in it. Mr Nightingale motioned for them to take a seat at the large table. After they had been offered drinks, wine for the adults and orange juice for Harry and Dudley, the real conversation begun. Harry shrank back into his seat.

* * *

"So what do you think would be an appropriate punishment for Harry?" Mr Nightingale asked

"The boy misbehaved, I think the harsher the punishment the better." Mr Dursley said

It wasn't going to be hard to get enough evidence to prove that the Dursley's favoured their own child. Mr Nightingale was shocked about the way that Mr Dursley was talking about his nephew, by calling him 'the boy' in such a rude tone. Mr Dursley was a stupid man to walk into here and be so harsh to a child.

"Harry has a habit of being nasty, always ruining the furniture and breaking ornaments. Not only this, but he doesn't seem grateful at all. We took him into our home, fed him-" Mr Dursley said

"Hardly." Harry murmured

"What did you say boy." Mr Dursley seemed to forget where he was "As soon as we get home you'll be straight in the cupboard, and you'll stay there for a month. "

Mrs Dursley signalled for her husband to stop talking, but Mr Dursley had already said too much. This was the perfect chance to get them to reveal more about Harry's life at home.

"I'm glad that you know how to punish boy's properly. "

"Well, the boy needs to learn his lesson, I shouldn't have taken him in in the first place. After all, I don't need freaks like him in my house. "Mr Dursley ranted

Mr Nightingale was shocked, Dudley's parents weren't ignorant to the fact that Dudley was a bully. This was child abuse. It made sense now.

"Have you ever tried to beat the nonsense out of him? "

"No, but I should. At the moment all he gets is no food for a few days. I tell Petunia that we should beat him all the time but doesn't believe in teaching children a lesson. "

Mr Nightingale was utterly disgusted by this man, how dare he treat a child like this. Even if Harry was an awful child, which Mr Nightingale doubted he was, it would still be completely out of line. There was no doubt that the Dursley's had done enough to be sent to court. It was rather a shame that Harry and Dudley would be sent to an orphanage, or to foster parents.

"So I think that it would be a good idea to keep him in detention every day after school for a month, and suspend him for a day or two next week."

After discussing Harry's punishment, in which Mr Dursley revealed that Harry always slept in a cupboard, the Dursley's finally left. It was already ten o'clock, he thought it would be better if he waited until the morning before making any important calls.

Mr Nightingale finishedoff the rest of the wine, today had been a very long day.

As Hermione was driving into school, she was debating what to do. Either ignore Harry, become friends with Harry again without telling him about the book

When she went into lessons, she noticed that the seat next to Harry was empty. Hermione nervously went up to her teacher to ask if she could To her surprise, the teacher said that she was allowed. Harry looked at her in surprise, he probably thought that she was angry at him before. Hermione smiled at him, and took her seat.

"Hi Harry." Hermione whispered

"Hi. "

"Listen Harry, I'm sorry I ignored you before, but at break I have something really important to tell you. I think It'll make up for everything." Hermione whispered "But you cant tell anyone, not a soul. Promise? "

"I promise."


	4. Chapter 5

A.N: This is the third chapter of Magical Matters. Enjoy.

This was harder than Hermione thought it would be, sitting here, thinking of a way to tell Harry something that would change his life forever. Hermione needed to be careful with what she said, she didn't want him to think she was crazy. She supposed that she could just tell him about what had happened but he wouldn't believe a word that had come out of her mouth.

"Hermione, are you still there?" Harry said, waving his hands in front of her face.

"Oh, sorry. I suppose just drifted away for a few minutes."

"I thought you had something to tell me?"

"I do, but I don't know how to." Hermione said. "Actually, I have an idea. I'll just give you the book."

"You just want to show me a book!" Harry said in disbelief. "Why do I have to keep that a secret?"

"Just open it."

Harry opened nervously, and when he did his jaw basically fell off his face. He had seen the moving photograph of the early wizards, the first ones to learn how to use their magic.

"W-w-wow, that is one b-big secret." Harry stuttered. "You're from the future."

"No I'm not."

"Okay then, you must be an alien."

"Are you saying I look like I'm an alien?"

"No, of course not. I just don't understand what your trying to tell me. No normal person can have a book that talks."

"Listen Harry." Hermione said gently, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You're a wizard."

"Me! I can't be a wizard. I'm Harry, just Harry." He panicked.

"I have a note for you, it came with the book. It's from a wizard called Dumbledore, I promise I didn't fake it."

As Harry read the note, his face looked almost as shocked as when he first saw the moving picture. He had to read it over and over again until eventually he looked up at Hermione, his eyes as wide as plates. He believed her, how could he not?

"So, I really am a wizard then? He asked

"Yes, you are."

"I still don't believe you." Harry said defiantly

"When have I ever lied to you." Hermione snapped

"You've only known me for a week or so. There wasn't much time to lie. But, how could I be a wizard?"

"Well it's quite simple. Both your parents had a gene that, when blended together, created a magical one."

"How on earth do you know that?"

"Well, when I first found out I found a page in the book that was dedicated to how magic was created and found a theory written by a man called Roger Newton. Everyone thought he was crazy, but I believe him. My other idea is that your father might have been a wizard but not have told your aunt."

"Why wouldn't he have told my aunt?"

"You said that your aunt was a spiteful, nasty, evil lunatic."

"I see your point."

"How many more questions do you have before you run out of things to ask?"

"Just one." Harry said "Are you a witch?

"I don't know. I could be, I hope I am. After all, what good am I to you otherwise? What good am I to the world?"

Harry leaned in to give Hermione a hug. She was close to tears; after all, it was the worst thing that could happen to someone like Hermione. There could be something out there that she just couldn't do no matter how hard she tried, and even worse was the fact that her best friend could.

"Hermione, you're the best thing about my life at the moment."

"I know, I'll tell you I've read so far in the books. It started out with the early wizards, from the Iron age, and then right up until the bronze age, where they found out that they could use wands to help them focus their power..."

Hermione told him everything she had read so far, right up to almost a thousand years ago. In the end Hermione decided to lend the book to Harry instead of reading the chapter about a place called Hogwarts. She was so glad she'd told Harry about magic, she liked having her own secrets but it was mainly because she had never had anyone as great as Harry to tell them too.

Meanwhile, Mr Nightingale was having a terrible day, he had been working with the police and the social services to get the Dursley's sent to court. He was forced to drive up to London twice in one day, and had to have an interview with the police.

"Can you show me the tape?"

"Yes, here is is." He said, handing it over.

He listened to the tape again. It sounded even worse the second time that he heard it, but without seeing how underweight Harry was, would they believe him? He hoped so, and judging by the look on the man's face, he thought that they would.

"Well, this is serious enough to get the guardians tried in court."

"Well, that's a good thing."

"I think that it might even be a good idea if I pop round there later. Can you tell me the address?"

"Sure. I'll write it down for you. "

As Mr Nightingale wrote down the name, he noticed something. On the man's wrist, there was a strange tattoo.

"Do you think there's a way to find out?"

Harry was sitting with Hermione in the school library, with the book resting over both of their laps. In the magic book, there was another letter. It was of course addressed to Harry, but the information was far more for Hermione's benefit than his. It was a letter, explaining all about accidental magic, and how, the stronger it is, the more powerful the wizard is. Hermione had just finished reading it, and was sitting there, thinking about the letter.

"Harry,I'm still not sure if I'm a witch or not." Hermione said "But while I was thinking, I came up with an idea, back in the stone age, wizards used to do a test of some sort to see if they were magical."

"Hermione, you showed me that page in the book, and believe me, there is no way you're going to jump off a cliff to see if you'll fly."

"Harry, don't be silly. I mean that we could do something like that to a lesser scale. Something that would make me feel scared, but I still wouldn't be so scared that I would get caught."

"I know, how about we watch a really, really creepy horror film."

"But I hate horror films. They're ridiculous and most of the plots could never happen."

"I'll ask my parent's if I'm allowed. I'll have to watch it by myself though which would be quite boring."

"I bet they creep you out though."

"Sometimes, if the script is written well and the story is almost believable enough to actually happen."

"I could watch it with you, if you wanted me to."

"Harry, believe me when I say that I would love you to, but if you get scared, then your magic would go off too. It would make the whole test unreliable"

"Hermione, I won't get scared of a horror film. Only girls and wimps get scared of things like that."

"Harry!" Hermione scolded, smacking the back of his head lightly "Don't be so sexist."

"But that's what Uncle Vernon said."

"Well, I say that that is complete and utter nonsense. After all, my Dad told me he was terrified of the exorcist. And you hate your Uncle Vernon."

"Yes, but, he is the only one that I can learn these kinds of things from."

"Yes, but if that's the kind of thing he's teaching you, you'd be better off not knowing."

They sat there for a few minutes without talking; when Harry had an idea which he thought would cheer Hermione up a little bit, Harry looked around the library for a few minutes before he finally found what he was looking for.

"Here you go Hermione."

"It's the Worst Witch."

"Yeah, I thought it would suit you perfectly, except for the part her being the worst. You're not the worst at anything."

"I'm pretty bad at PE."

"No-one cares about PE anyway, we don't do anything cool in it."

"What do you think would be cool then?"

"I don't know, flying, wrestling, martial arts. Even swimming would be more interesting than what we do."

"Can you imagine me doing any of those, especially flying?" Hermione giggled.

"Well, not without falling off your broomstick."

Harry was in his cupboard, reading the book. Well, more looking at the pictures than reading it. It was too dark and cramped to actually read. Still, it gave him a pretty good idea of what was going on. There were all sorts of strange things that he'd learnt from it. Harry completely understood why Hermione liked learning.

"Help me with the dishes, boy." Aunt Petunia called, "I'm in a hurry toady."

"In a minute." Harry said, too tired to awaken.

"Not in a minute, now!" She screamed, "How dare you be so lazy! I'll come and get you myself."

Harry tried to put the book away before she came in but he was too slow. As she open the cupboard, Harry could see her eyes drift towards the old cover.

"Harry, what's that?" She demanded sharply.

"Oh, it's nothing, just a book I took out from the library, nothing interesting."

"Well then, let me take a look"

"No, you can't have it."

"Give me the book. You're being a stupid, arrogant little brat." Aunt Petunia sneered. "Then again, when are you not."

Eventually Aunt Petunia just grabbed the book off him and looked inside of it. She immediately ran, screaming, and all Harry could do was sit in his cupboard and wait for someone to come and get him. He didn't have to wait for too long. Only a few minutes later, he was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and dragged into the hall by Uncle Vernon.

"So you found out about your freakishness, you little brat." Uncle Vernon yelled. "It serves you right though, you'll end up the same way as your parents. Pack your things up, you aren't welcome inside this house anymore."

"You, knew about magic all along. You lied to me."

"Don't worry too much. Soon enough you be out on the streets, and no-one will lie to you there."

As Harry was packing up his clothes, he could hear the massive debate going on in the living room. Aunt Petunia wanted him to stay while Uncle Vernon wanted him to leave. Aunt Petunia was terrified of something to do with that guy who sent him the book, while Vernon was more scared of Harry using magic on them. He had never seen Aunt Petunia stand up for what she thought on anything before, but she was certainly making up for it now.

After about half an hour of arguing, someone finally came in to see him. It was Uncle Vernon, holding the book.

"We've decided that you can stay. But I'm taking _this _away from you."

"Give that back to me! Give it back right now!"

"Come on boy." Uncle Vernon taunted "Do you want your book back? Then you'll have to try a little harder."

"GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE IT BACK!" Harry shouted, "IT'S MY BOOK!"

As Harry was shouting, Uncle Vernon was leading him into the kitchen. It was all happening fast, too fast for Harry to realise what was going on. Before Harry knew it, Uncle Vernon had thrown the book into the fire. Cackling like a maniac. While Vernon was laughing, Harry was watching the flames.

They slowly burnt the pages, in a way that looked almost surreal. Harry saw the magical pictures screaming, the children crying. Then, the pages turned to ash. The book was gone forever.


End file.
